Plank Sinatra

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

poor ben

The Federation Crew * A Gundam RP*

Cairo Casablancas
Still Playing...

The Gyan had turned to face her, shield raised slightly to guard from the inevitable.

The first shot struck the mobile suit's shield, blowing the shield arm, and a good chunk of the torso it was attached to, into smithereens in the time it took to blink. If he wasn't already dead by having part of the cockpit sheared off, the unfortunate Zeon pilot was surely atomized by the second mega particle cannon striking his suit's unprotected cockpit. The high mobility suit had been completely wiped out, nothing but a lower leg and the top of a cranial unit's crest still floating in midair to mark where it had been.

Cairo exhaled slowly, foot tapping slightly anxiously, and made a split second decision on what to do next. While she'd been engaging, Yemi's Guncannon and the Gundam pilot had ripped through the Zakus and the Rick Doms, and both had directed their attention on the Zaku Cannon. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant's GM was squaring off alone against the Gelgoog variant - which, now that she had a look at it, was boasting a performance nothing short of nightmarish.

If she dies, I'm so getting promoted.

The thought was a cold lance of panic, impaling her vertically. Cairo quickly turned her G-Fighter and flew behind the Gelgoog's back, so that the Spartan would face the approaching Ensign over the Gelgoog's shoulder. Cairo focused momentarily--

--and fired three missiles at the propellant tanks on the Gelgoog's exterior, hoping to ignite them and destroy the mobile suit before it could rip the Lieutenant apart.

It's cool. I'm not a hero or anything.

モバイルフレーム MOBILE FRAME - To the Stars!

it was coordinated entirely to fuck with you bruv

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

"Yeeeeeeup, we're already running late. They're supposed to be serving crepes for breakfast this morning, and I'm gonna want to stake out a few plates for myself early. So I'm gonna go and find Cap and Sangue, and you," Lauren clapped and leaned forward, biting down hard on Amy's lower lip the way she did to Ben's when he got uppity, "get dressed and catch up with me. It'll surprise the shit outta everybody that way."

Lauren hopped backwards off of the bed and drummed on it enthusiastically for several seconds, before snapping her fingers and turning towards the hallway in the middle of a jog. She paused long enough to reiterate "Surprise me!" in the middle of a pirouette before she completed her rotation and bounded out the door, slamming it behind her.

Now, if I were Sangue, where would I be...

Well, the answer to that one was with Lauren. Short of Lauren...

I'd be with Ben!

Okay, that was easy. Now where would Ben be?

...

Again, probably with Lauren. Short of Lauren...

...

Nah, I was already in the shower. I'd know if I saw him there.

Could he have stayed in the Armory until dawn? That sounded unpleasantly like long, hard work, which was something that a self-professed slacker would recoil from...but then again, boys and their toys...

...

So if I were Ben, and I had stayed in the Armory toiling and sweating all night...what would I want?

...

BESIDES ME.

Once Lauren applied the question to herself, however, it grew easier; she thought of her own exercise-driven mornings and her cooldown routine after - a routine that always included, above all else, a hot shower and...

Some fresh clothes!

Lauren's grin was positively devilish.

"Caaaaap!" she called out through the hallways. "I brought your clooooothes!"

モバイルフレーム MOBILE FRAME - To the Stars!

Vivianne Laurent

Vivianne Laurent

Character Summary

Name: Vivianne Adrienne Laurent
Aliases: Viv
Age: 27
Birthday: November 10th
Gender: Female

Appearance

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 60.3 kgs (133 lbs.)
Build: Lean and toned
Eyes: Ice blue
Hair: Black, green highlights (dyed, originally dirty blonde)
Skin Tone: Olive / Tanned / Freckles
Tattoos/Scars/Piercings: Viv often wears henna tattoos, changing up the patterns after every three months. The only two that adorn her skin permanently are on the inside of either ankle - she has a Spartan's helmet on her right and a bloody guillotine on her left. She has a series of irregular, jagged scars on the inside of her right torso and biceps, where she semi-successfully caught a beer bottle being swung at her that promptly shattered in her grip. Two diamond studs in the right side of her nose.
Personal Style: For anyone lulled into into a false sense of comfort by the relatively conservative style of Evangeline Sparr, her best friend (and long-term sofa parasite) is a decidedly more loud, punk affair. Her hair is short and has been dyed several colors over the course of her teens and twenties, and whether she wears spandex or skinny jeans you can always count on patches being torn away from her pants to reveal her legs. A black leather flight jacket, always smelling faintly of old swishers and beer no matter how often it's thrown through the wash, is always on her person, either worn or slung over her shoulder or hips. It's decorated with a variety of cuts, burns, and patches with the initials CGS or GFG, for the mercenary companies where she's spent her life.

Thanks to her runaway heiress friend, however, Vivianne has learned the basics of how to look respectable. She's capable of rocking a black turtleneck and heels when she needs to, or even a tuxedo for special occasions where she needs to accompany Evan places. Dresses are out of the question. So is any jewelry short of the diamond piercings in her nose, or any makeup besides copious eyeliner and some foundation and blush to cover up those ridiculous freckles.

Psychology

Aggressive * Driven * Inventive * Persuasive * Vulnerable

Sexuality: Repressed (Bisexual)
Relationship Status: Single
Personality: Viv is not an easy person to withstand. What manifests to others as cold courtesy is, more often than not, a barely-contained attempt to disguise her impatience with wasting her time talking to someone instead of being up and accomplishing a goal of hers. Like her best friend, she has a certain attractive swagger, but whereas Evangeline Sparr acts like the dumb, loud brute of the pair, Viv Laurent is a mercurial tempest, a demanding workhorse with a fierce charisma and impatience for slacking. This focus has served her well in her life as a mercenary and given her both the wariness and hunger of a predator; Vivianne is ambitious but cautious, and will not let her love of a good high-octane fight get in the way of her resolve or any standing orders, and actively demands the same self-control from others in turn.

This intensity is a double-edged sword, however, that has left Vivianne constantly seeking new outlets to release some of her pent-up energy. This, combined with a pathological need for constant focus and clarity, has left her vulnerable to the allure of an ever more dangerous life and an ever more exciting party. It is telling that the majority of Viv's sabbatical from mercenary work in her teens was spent at punk concerts or as a club kid. Vivianne is capable of recognizing the hypocrisy that stems from an Apollonian work ethic and a Dionysian night life, but justifies herself by telling herself that the excellence she demands from herself can only be achieved by venting all her chaotic energy when possible off-duty.

Like many thrill-seekers, Vivianne can be incredibly persuasive. Her charisma and determination to set and reach a series of clear goals, one right after the other, is clear, and with that sort of ironclad will comes the ability to persuade people to always give her a little bit of extra slack. Nowhere is this more evident than with her only true friend. Evan is the only person who can both inspire a greater fire in Vivianne and prod gently at her handful of soft spots. Fully aware of her friend's loneliness and desire to be loved above all else, Viv often leaves some of her typical sting from the rebukes she gives her friend - and, though she grouses endlessly about the girl's stupidity, will direct acidic verbal bombs at any who question Sparr's worth.
Habits: Vivianne exercises alongside Sparr once a day, often to a greater extent than even her best friend is capable of so early in the morning. This is done both to keep herself disciplined and as a method of recovery from her chaotic nights. Vivianne is a habitual user of several illicit substances; before joining the Ghosts she smoked cannabis frequently and could go through a twelve pack in a night, but after her extraterrestrial tour with Sparr first began she successfully gave up drinking. Despite this improvement, she is still open about a semi-regular cocaine habit she picked up upon her return to the Jupiter Sphere, as well as several occasional dalliances with MDMA. Neither of these have devolved into a full-blown addiction, though she uses both for recreation fairly often.
Hobbies: Despite her notoriety as a club kid, Viv's non-partying activities are downright docile in nature. She's spent many quiet nights tending to her housemates, whether it be keeping an eye on Evan through action movie marathons (Evan's choice) or art house romances (her preference) or playing with her kitten, Robespierre. Vivianne is also an avid fan of exercise, and despite her dabbling with various drugs has avoided alcohol and (most) forms of smoking to keep herself in fit and fighting shape.
Fears: With the notable exceptions of a few people and one kitten, Vivianne has no concern one way or another for human life. The mercenary is possessed with a certain type of courageous, near-suicidal free spirit, and walks without fear of danger throughout all aspects of her life. What scares Viv is the way those under her perceive her - she has a need to be seen as a valued and admired comrade, not an obstacle or a shackle on her team.

Nowhere is this more plainly seen than with Evangeline Sparr. The Frame designer's decision to leave behind her parents' company and a comfortable life in order to follow Vivianne on a quest for adventure through the solar system weighs on her constantly, and the fact that Evan tends to her and nurtures her throughout her myriad of blurry nights and dalliances with substance abuse with such tenderness and affection is maddening to Viv. Viv is terrified of repaying this blind loyalty in the wrong way, and struggles to project an image that would maintain Evan's pride in her and prove herself as a worthy influence on her best friend.
Likes:

• Evan
• Robespierre
• Being drunk
• Being high
• Punk rock
• Hip hop
• Movies
• Exercise
• Flying
• Conflict

Dislikes:

• Being drunk
• Being high
• Evan's mood swings
• Being disturbed while coming down

Cards On The Table

General Skills: Viv has never received any in-depth hand to hand training, but has the quick instinct and dirty mind of many a punk and brawler. This, coupled with her physical fitness, makes her an unpredictable, if raw, hand-to-hand fighter. She's much better trained in the usage of her firearms, and is one of the few Ghosts to have extensive training in flight as well as Frame combat.

Viv also will gleefully reluctantly indulge in karaoke or a good open mic night, sometimes with her beaten old acoustic guitar.
Inventory/Possessions:
-Personalized CGS Sidearm
-.338 Magnum sniper rifle
-Portable phone
-Roniq Pressman cassette player
-Formal wear
-Four-string Martin acoustic guitar
-Robespierre, a feisty eight month old Calico

History

Years of Combat Experience: 13
Background:

Unlike her best friend, Vivianne was born into a life of combat - and she never stopped to regret it.

Her parents were the founders of Callisto Guerrilla Solutions, a PMC on the Galilean moon of Callisto that performed mercenary work throughout the independent worlds, and even ITA territory as far as Mars. Rather than stay sheltered for the majority of her life by her mercenary parents, By the time she had grown into an adolescent, Viv was being taken along on some of CGS' more mundane jobs, which soon evolved into her providing direct assistance from her parents' cruiser. Her parents were careful never to let her actually perform any combat roles, but she longed for the day she could prove herself as a fighter in their eyes. When an insurgency broke out in an attempt to wrest control of Mars away from the ITA, Vivianne had just turned 14 - and she saw her chance.

Her parents saw that there was no dissuading her, and gave her exactly what she wanted - a chance to watch the fight from planetside. That was where they toed the line.

Vivianne was relegated to support for the duration of the war, ferrying wounded soldiers to safety or driving trucks of ammunition; it was a dangerous job, like she had pleaded for, but still contained a note of concern more for the young Viv's well-being than she would have liked. When the war was over and they were returning to Callisto, Viv decided to plead with her parents again to be allowed a more active role in CGS affairs. She was told, point blank, that someday the entire organization would be hers - but not as a teenager, and not without experience outside of the small, privileged life she had lived as the only daughter of the PMC's founders. If she wanted to make a living, she had to do it on her own for the time being and then come back, seasoned, for her parents to re-evaluate her place in the family business.

Viv found that agreeable enough, and had soon found her way all the way to Earth. She was too young, too Jovian, and too independent to get a roll in the ITA military anywhere, and when she had detailed her experiences in the Martian war she was either mocked or disbelieved by the mercenary companies she attempted to enlist in. With no outlet for her ambitions in sight, the discontent and depressed Viv briefly fronted a punk rock band and found a brief respite in the grungy touring life, before that fell through due to a handsy bassist and the depletion of her bank account in civil court after paying for lawyer fees and the man's teeth. Fucking bassists.

Now stuck in a dead-end and increasingly more destitute life, Vivianne found herself at a fateful concert one night that, as was the case with most concerts she attended, evolved into a brawl. Unlike many other concerts she had attended, there was an heiress present that night who had pulled Viv from the carnage after an unlucky blow to the temple.

When Viv woke up the next morning, she was appalled to see that she had been rescued by a drooling pug in human form, desperate for affection and already proclaiming herself Viv's best friend. Over the course of two days, Viv was slowly nursed back from her concussive state by the clingy girl, who finally introduced herself as Evangeline Sparr (but only after about another fifty instances of the gut-wrenching words 'best friends,' and a prolonged, wide-eyed, cheerful ignorance of any protests to the contrary) the heiress to a tech conglomerate that manufactured workhorse Frames for a variety of purposes. Without any prompting from Viv, still unable to escape thanks to the ringing in her head and weakness in her legs, her kidnapper/host detailed her lack of enthusiasm with running the company and her differences of opinion with her parents. As she went on, the ambitious Vivianne quickly realized that, in the unenthusiastic Sparr, perhaps she had found the perfect apostle and wingwoman on her quest to meet her life's goals.

And so, reluctantly at first but with considerably more zeal as the years went on, Vivianne accepted the mantle of 'best friend.'

However, gaining her first friend had not tempered Vivianne's resolve or spirit in the slightest; on the contrary, her desire for experience out in the solar system and a lifetime of adventure had quickly rubbed off on the impressionable young Evangeline, and within a few years of being hosted by the Sparr family Viv had convinced her to leave Earth behind and head further into the solar system, where Viv had spent her formative years. After striking some unholy devil's pact with her parents, Evangeline agreed, pulling her personal Frame out of storage and agreeing to follow anywhere Viv led. There was only the matter of Viv acquiring a Frame of her own.

That problem was solved, much to her chagrin, by good old nepotism. Cajoling a prototype (and revolutionary) transformable frame out of The Powers That Be at Spartan Industries filled Viv with self-loathing, but once she had her customized prototype unit to herself, she had to admit that it was one detour that, while not earned, was nonetheless a net positive. The two girls, now armed and ready, struck out through space, eventually coming to rest once again in the Jovian colonies and joining the Ganymede Ghosts on Sparr's request.

Viv remains a Ghost to this day with her best friend, hoarding experience and honing her skills until the day she can return proudly to her parents and claim her own birthright, with her best friend at her side.

Extras

Character Quote: "Evan, you fucking moron."
Theme Song: Motorhead - Enter Sandman
Anything Else: N/A

Spartan Thermidor

Technical Data

Model Number: SIS-Y20XX-02 (Spartan Industries Swan - Year 20XX - Unit 02)
Code Name: White Swan Thermidor
Manufacturer: Spartan Industries
Dimensions: 8.1 meters tall (Hybrid Mode), 18.31 meters long (fighter mode)
Weight: 14.6 metric tons (13244.9 kg, empty), 19.6 metric tons (17780.8 kg, loaded)

Armaments

Armaments:
-Bastille 30mm Autocannons x2: Fixed to hardpoints in fighter mode.
-CHI-Z "Scapino" 100mm Long-Range Frame Sniper: Unable to mount in fighter configuration. Can only be carried in Hybrid Mode and must be abandoned to transform.
-IRIS Rockets x8: Mounted on shoulder pod over right shoulder in Hybrid Mode.

Equipment & Design Features

Design Features: The clearest innovation that Thermidor brings to the table is its transformable frame, able to transform from a Hybrid mode of Frame and fighter jet into a small-scale fighter and back. While seemingly marvelous on paper, the prototype comes with several problems.

Though Spartan Industries advertises that this process can be done in 1.5 seconds, the fastest transformation Viv has ever been able to eke out of her machine took 1.9 seconds. Thermidor is capable of very limited VTOL in Hybrid mode thanks to thrusters on the back of the arms and legs, but only a mere couple dozen meters off the ground - only enough space to allow it to transform into fighter mode. In addition, an entire third mode - that of a normal, humanoid Frame - had to be excised entirely due to the limitations of Spartan Industries technology, a cut that Vivianne was not happy with even when Evangeline herself told Viv it wouldn't be possible. Though she eventually warmed to the smaller, stubbier Hybrid mode, Viv never referred to the machine by its in-house name again; she now uses the codename Thermidor, after what she feels is a retreat from the machine's full innovative potential.

Though several additional configurations and packs are on the development slate for the eventual mass-production model, including an armor pack, a speed pack, and an atmosphere-escape booster pack, the prototype, obviously, comes with none of these.

As an aerospace Frame, Thermidor is armored with layers of ceramic composite armor typical to Frames, as well as an experimental titanium alloy typical of most aircraft.

Miscellaneous

Technical & Historical Notes: The Swan model is one of several potential centerpieces of the Spartan Industries Year 2000 Development Initiative, an effort for the Sparr family to corner the market with both a variety of upgraded classic models and several new Frames. Chief among the myriad of developments that the company made throughout the 1980s was progress on one of the world's first transformable Frames, an air-capable machine that could still function on the ground. In 1985, two prototypes were successfully constructed from the high-end Spartan Musketeer frame and codenamed Black Swan and White Swan respectively. The project stagnated, however, when the data mined from the two Swans proved inconclusive after Spartan Industries treated both prototypes with kid gloves and stunted their development. The Musketeer frame was put through several more stress tests, with various different takes on the transformable frame design, and by 1988 the Swans were competing eight other potential transformable Frames that could be marketed for the Year 2000 Initiative instead.

It was around this time that Vivianne Laurent, a part-time test pilot for the company and companion of the Sparr family heiress, was doing a tour of one of the company's R&D facilities looking for the Matryoshka unit prototype when the Swan caught her eye. Viv instantly requested one of the two prototypes for her own use, which the R&D squints steadfastly refused to surrender. A fiery argument ensued, and the passions of the young mercenary seemed to be locked in a stalemate with the protective instincts of the Swan's engineers before Evan Sparr made calls to her parents. Through a series of arcane promises - the likes of which Evan has cheerfully refused to inform Viv of, aside from vague promises that "now we'll definitely be best friends forever!" - Sparr had pulled on just the right strings.

When the two girls left Earth a few weeks later, the Spartan Industries Swan Unit 02, the White Swan, haughtily nicknamed Thermidor by its pilot, went with them. It has been Viv's personal unit in the five years that the girls have spent with the Ghosts.
Color Scheme: The Frame keeps the same white primary color it had through its testing phase, but the yellow-gold coat that the R&D department gave it for a secondary color has been replaced with Viv's personal jade green.
Anything Else: "Sparr, your fat ass crowds the cockpit. Get out."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

"Well, I mean, we could stay here."

Lauren's face contorted in thought, and she leaped into the air, rolling slightly and sinking into the soft bed immediately after her landing. She was draped across the foot of the bed, forming a T-shape with Amy, and her eyes traced the moving fan in the dorm with a kitten-like interest.

"But on the off chance my parents are coming, they're gonna wonder why I wasn't out here to greet them. They're gonna sniff me out any way they can until they find me here, hanging out with your thot ass, in a room with a bunch of stolen concessions and tens of thousands of dollars worth of stashed lien, most of it gotten from fleecing shit I stole from rich people...oh, yeah, and I'm dressed up like a white boy - a white boy who, on top of being my best friend, is gonna talk to my parents before me, and probably tell them that he's my leader on top of telling 'em that I, like, sexually harass him or something? He's gonna lie his ass off to them and it's gonna all roll back on me."

Lauren exhaled lazily and turned to the lazy hawk Faunus with a teasing smile.

"So I'm going out there, doll - and where I go, you follow! Besides--" - the dark-skinned Huntress' teasing, cheerful grinn had turned wicked - "--this affords some Grade A-fucking-1 opportunities to torture Ben. If we played our cards riiiiiight."

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

The loss of Ben Lloyd, for even one night, had proved to be a source of major upheaval in the once-pacified Bastille dorms, famous for their unity in the face of wearing uncomfortable bras to bed and torturing their male figurehead. With their long-suffering leader figure taken out of the mix, the dorms had become a breeding ground for Lauren's antics. A playful pillow to the back of Amy's head in a fit of boredom had led to returned fire, creating a back-and-forth that had quickly grown unsustainable when it was realized that somehow this had led to Sangue hoarding all the pillows. Forced to grovel for supplies from the snake, the innocent fight turned the tight-knit tag team of Lauren and Amy into bitter pillow-boxing rivals. This led to a melee fight this time that ended when - yet again - Sangue Naga had proved the truth of her 'snake' moniker and, having gleaned the basics of a pillow fight from her more wizened female teammates, clubbed them both with a pillow in each hand.

With no Cap to be seen, the girls were left with nothing to do but allow each other's natural energies to trickle down to each other - as long as Lauren was awake, Amy stayed excited, and as long as both Lauren and Amy stayed awake, it was inevitable that Sangue would be dragged into the conversation. It was passing the two o'clock hour when all three girls had finally fallen asleep. It had taken burning through a fifth of Lauren's infamously-guarded candy bar rations, a few smuggled beers, and a series of eternal vows of feminist sisterhood, even in the face of boys (for Sangue), men (for Amy), and whites (for Lauren) but eventually, they had slept.

And so it was that Lauren Negasi groaned to life, free of the wretched cotton maiden on her chest for what could be the first and only time at Beacon yet still suffering from an excruciating need to sink back into the warm bed for another hour or so. Unfortunately, it looked like Cap hadn't come back, meaning his day had probably already begun...and Sangue's bed was empty, too.

Fuck, I'd kill for some of that girl's motivation at 8 am...

WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUULP!

Time to start her day anyway. Lauren bounced (literally) her way out of bed and stretched, somewhat less provocatively than normal without a captive audience to gawk and stutter.

"Hey, Am, gotta wake up, princess."

Desire didn't budge. You'd think a prostitute would be a little quicker to get out of bed, in case a wife came home or something. Lauren shrugged and looked towards her drawer for a second with a forlorn sigh. This morning was so boring, like her energy had been cleaved in half...what to do...what to...

Her gaze drifted to Ben's dresser.

Like a Mogwai that had been fed after midnight, she began to snicker evilly. A few seconds later, with a handful of clothes in her hands, she was rushing to the team's bathroom.

"Wake up, Desire!" she called over her shoulder as she slammed the door behind her. When she hopped out of the shower a few minutes later, there was no movement from the Faunus. Clearly trying to stir Amy like a civilized girl wasn't going to work.

Then again, Lauren had no reason to talk. She had squeezed herself into a pair of Ben's faded black skinny jeans and a long-sleeved burgundy henley, all the buttons popped open irreverently. Dressed in her best friend's decidedly un-Lauren-sized clothes, the toned boxer plopped down on her bed again and decided to see how far she could go with this Amy thing.

...

"Handjob."

Were her eyes fluttering? Maybe Desire was having a dream.

"Fellatiooooooo."

No, actually, she was just snoring.

"Eeeee-rection!"

Lauren huffed.

"Morning wood! Handcuffs! Candle wax!"

What the fuck kind of hooker was this, anyway?

"Symmetrical docking?"

The Federation Crew * A Gundam RP*

(ignore this guild's server is shit today)

The Federation Crew * A Gundam RP*

Waiting on @p1ssaragi's next post so the Gyan can go blammo and Cairo can fight other stuff.

モバイルフレーム MOBILE FRAME - To the Stars!

Technical Data

Model Number: SIS-Y20XX-02 (Spartan Industries Swan - Year 20XX - Unit 02)
Code Name: White Swan Thermidor
Manufacturer: Spartan Industries
Dimensions: 8.1 meters tall (Hybrid Mode), 18.31 meters long (fighter mode)
Weight: 14.6 metric tons (13244.9 kg, empty), 19.6 metric tons (17780.8 kg, loaded)

Armaments

Armaments:
-Bastille 30mm Autocannons x2: Fixed to hardpoints in fighter mode.
-CHI-Z "Scapino" 100mm Long-Range Frame Sniper: Unable to mount in fighter configuration. Can only be carried in Hybrid Mode and must be abandoned to transform.
-IRIS Rockets x8: Mounted on shoulder pod over right shoulder in Hybrid Mode.

Equipment & Design Features

Design Features: The clearest innovation that Thermidor brings to the table is its transformable frame, able to transform from a Hybrid mode of Frame and fighter jet into a small-scale fighter and back. While seemingly marvelous on paper, the prototype comes with several problems.

Though Spartan Industries advertises that this process can be done in 1.5 seconds, the fastest transformation Viv has ever been able to eke out of her machine took 1.9 seconds. Thermidor is capable of very limited VTOL in Hybrid mode thanks to thrusters on the back of the arms and legs, but only a mere couple dozen meters off the ground - only enough space to allow it to transform into fighter mode. In addition, an entire third mode - that of a normal, humanoid Frame - had to be excised entirely due to the limitations of Spartan Industries technology, a cut that Vivianne was not happy with even when Evangeline herself told Viv it wouldn't be possible. Though she eventually warmed to the smaller, stubbier Hybrid mode, Viv never referred to the machine by its in-house name again; she now uses the codename Thermidor, after what she feels is a retreat from the machine's full innovative potential.

Though several additional configurations and packs are on the development slate for the eventual mass-production model, including an armor pack, a speed pack, and an atmosphere-escape booster pack, the prototype, obviously, comes with none of these.

As an aerospace Frame, Thermidor is armored with layers of ceramic composite armor typical to Frames, as well as an experimental titanium alloy typical of most aircraft.

Miscellaneous

Technical & Historical Notes: The Swan model is one of several potential centerpieces of the Spartan Industries Year 2000 Development Initiative, an effort for the Sparr family to corner the market with both a variety of upgraded classic models and several new Frames. Chief among the myriad of developments that the company made throughout the 1980s was progress on one of the world's first transformable Frames, an air-capable machine that could still function on the ground. In 1985, two prototypes were successfully constructed from the high-end Spartan Musketeer frame and codenamed Black Swan and White Swan respectively. The project stagnated, however, when the data mined from the two Swans proved inconclusive after Spartan Industries treated both prototypes with kid gloves and stunted their development. The Musketeer frame was put through several more stress tests, with various different takes on the transformable frame design, and by 1988 the Swans were competing eight other potential transformable Frames that could be marketed for the Year 2000 Initiative instead.

It was around this time that Vivianne Laurent, a part-time test pilot for the company and companion of the Sparr family heiress, was doing a tour of one of the company's R&D facilities looking for the Matryoshka unit prototype when the Swan caught her eye. Viv instantly requested one of the two prototypes for her own use, which the R&D squints steadfastly refused to surrender. A fiery argument ensued, and the passions of the young mercenary seemed to be locked in a stalemate with the protective instincts of the Swan's engineers before Evan Sparr made calls to her parents. Through a series of arcane promises - the likes of which Evan has cheerfully refused to inform Viv of, aside from vague promises that "now we'll definitely be best friends forever!" - Sparr had pulled on just the right strings.

When the two girls left Earth a few weeks later, the Spartan Industries Swan Unit 02, the White Swan, haughtily nicknamed Thermidor by its pilot, went with them. It has been Viv's personal unit in the five years that the girls have spent with the Ghosts.
Color Scheme: The Frame keeps the same white primary color it had through its testing phase, but the yellow-gold coat that the R&D department gave it for a secondary color has been replaced with Viv's personal jade green.
Anything Else: "Sparr, your fat ass crowds the cockpit. Get out."